Saturday, May 09, 2009

thanks to Five Feet of Fury. Whilst browsing through, I found a link to just what led up to the Kent State shootings; not surprisingly(I remember some bits & pieces I heard at the time), mixed in with actual protesters were communists, arsonists, vandals and people committing assault with deadly weapons.

And, a few days later, an incident I'd never heard of:"Construction workers at the World Trade Center building site got wind of the plan. When anti-war protester assembled at the George Washington statue on Wall Street that day -- complete with Viet Cong flags -- suits and hard hats joined forces against the hippies, in one of the weirdest 70s events you've never heard of: the Hard Hat Riot.

By noon, more than 1,000 people had gathered and the vigil had escalated to a rally, and about 200 construction workers had had enough. They made signs reading things like “America, Love it or Leave it” and got right up against the police line that separated them from the students. They obeyed it for a few minutes, but the tension got to be too much and the construction workers started chasing the students through the street, beating some of them severely with fists, clubs and crowbars. The construction worker mob fought their way into City Hall and demanded that the flag be raised to full mast again - it had been lowered to half mast to honor the dead at Kent State. Fearful of further damage from the mob, the Deputy Mayor ordered the flag to be raised. The riot eventually fizzled out on its own. Six arrests were made and more than 70 people were injured."

Speaking of the past, back in the 80's I read an article about a bunch of 'save the whales' people, and one of them mentioned when he realized his lines weren't working. He told some construction guy "The flowers are your friends!" and the guy responded "Does that mean the weed is my enemy?" Doesn't apply to the above, but I thought I'd throw it in.

because about half an hour after I posted, it stopped. And the clouds broke. So I went over, and we got quite a bit done. Dead limbs cut up, live pruned and all hauled around for big trash pickup, and the rather tall grass mowed. And, happily, I don't seem to have picked up any ticks during the work.

then the clown in the White House is even more of a clown than we may have imagined.In the comments on my recent post regarding Operation Dumbass a discussion began about the different variants of the F16. A couple of guys noticed the bright red tail on at least one of the F16s in the NYC fly-over.

The distinctive red tail goes back to World War II and the P51-C’s made famous by the Tuskegee Airmen (Image above). The “Red Tails” are still alive in the Alabama Air National Guard and their F16s are in fact painted with the distinctive red tail (the only organization with the red tail paint job that I’m aware of).

If that is true, that means that the administration launched an F16 all the way from Alabama for a photo op.

But what could possibly be the purpose of going to such lengths the film a “Red Tail” escorting Air Force One?

How about a Hollywood movie!?

George Lucas is shooting an epic film about the Tuskegee Airmen as we speak.Pure chance? Maybe. But with this bunch, I have serious doubts. In the comments, we findABC News is reporting F-16s were indeed from Alabama Air National Guard apparently on loan to DC Air Guard.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/05/secretary-gates.html

Interesting, isn't it?

Update:In comments, Arthur pointed to this post, with a lot more information.For starters, Air Force sources have confirmed that the F-16s that escorted the VC-25 over Manhattan are assigned to the Alabama Air National Guard, not the D.C. Guard as the AP (and other media outlets) originally reported. The Alabama guard has painted some of its Vipers in a distinctive "red tail" paint scheme, honoring the legendary Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. One of the fighters observed over Manhattan had the same markings.

Why does that matter? The distance from Dannelly Field in Montgomery (where the F-16s are based) is roughly 750 miles from New York City. According to the Pentagon, the fighters logged just under four hours of flight time during their mission. During that time, they burned as much as 20,000 pounds of fuel, based on an optimal cruise speed and a configuration that included two external tanks.

With "two bags of gas," an F-16 has a maximum fuel capacity of 11,900 pounds. Subtract the "divert minimum" that pilots must maintain for safety (typically 1,500 pounds), and the amount of on-board fuel drops to just over 10,000 pounds. So, the F-16s had to take on extra gas somewhere between Montgomery and the Big Apple.

In other words, there was at least one in-flight refueling as a part of the mission--and possibly two--requiring at least one tanker aircraft. So, factor in the added expense of a KC-135 or KC-10 and its crew. At the beginning of this decade, the cost of each Stratotanker flying hour was pegged at more than $10,000. Operating a KC-10 is even more expensive, just over $13,000 an hour. Multiply that cost by three to five hours, the typical length of a tanker sortie.Which information means that this idiot scheme was even more involved and expensive and(Shock! and Horror!) polluting that previously admitted. And I have a hard time believing that President Obama had no knowledge of all this. And as this gets around, the media will have less and less excuse to hide behind as to why they aren't asking questions.

Some friends and I were going to another friends' house this morning to help clean up some storm damage(limbs down, etc.). Since the 20% chance of rain today just turned into "IT'S RAINING AGAIN!!!", that's out.

At least I got the mowing and pruning and chipping done yesterday, when it was "Jump up and start swimming" humid but not actually raining.

from Mike Adams:The recent rise in Somali piracy confuses me. It confuses me because I cannot imagine entering waters near the coast of Africa without enough firepower to arm a small third-world nation. It confuses me as much as that home security commercial that features a burglar breaking into the home of a married couple. You know the one where the wife gets a call from another man at security headquarters who promises to send someone to help. Meanwhile the husband locks himself in a closet and hopes for the best.

When that husband eventually comes out of the closet he might as well have his genitals surgically removed. When his wife realizes he can’t defend her against an intruder she probably isn’t going to risk the possibility of procreation. Some genes just weren’t meant to survive....I don’t fish as often as I did in the Texas Gulf Coast in the 1970s. But I do get an occasional invite to go deep sea fishing off the Carolina coast with three good friends. Two of these friends work in a national security capacity for the federal government (please pardon the pseudonyms). So it should go without saying that we have the hardware and skills to defeat a small (or large) band of pirates whenever we venture into the Atlantic Ocean. We don’t have any evidence of piracy off the Carolina coast. But we all subscribe to the belief that it is better to have a gun and not need one than to need a gun and not have one.

How about a nice, simple notice to governments receiving food and medical aid:"Our ships carrying the aid are armed. This may consist only of small arms for the crew or a security squad, or they may have something heavier. This is purely for defense against pirates. If you are so bothered by this that you will not allow them to make port in your country, then you do not get any aid."

that's supposed to be a surprise?"We were not -- I repeat -- were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used," Pelosi said on April 23.

The emphasis seems to be on "were used," even though she conceded in a statement released Friday that she was told they would be used.

"As I said in my statement of December 9, 2007: 'I was briefed on interrogation techniques the (Bush) administration was considering using in the future. The administration advised that legal counsel for both the CIA and the Department of Justice had concluded that the techniques were legal,'" she said.

But even that statement is at odds with the official record of the briefings recorded in the CIA memo dated to Sept. 4, 2002. That memo says Pelosi received a "briefing on EITs (enhanced interrogation techniques), including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on authorities and a description of particular EITs that had been employed."

Insty has a bunch of links here, all noting proof that Pelosi lied, repeatedly. And that some of the excusesdefenses put up for her are, to quote Allah, "...one dumber than the other".

Friday, May 08, 2009

Steve has a post about his new undies, which got me thinking about some new underwear. In Oklahoma in summer, microfiber sounds like a good idea, so I looked up Unico and microfiber boxers. Which led to a some websites. Which led me to two conclusions:Yeah, I'm cheap: $20 to $30 for underwear sounds insane.Steve's right; a lot of this looks like something Jack would wear on Will & Grace on an especially gay day. I mean, 'Men's Padded Rear Boxer Brief for Butt Lift'? For real?

I may just get another Utilikilt and go regimental, and to hell with it.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Confronting the head of a non-TARP fund holding Chrysler debt and unwilling to release it for any sum less than that to which it was legally entitled without compelling cause, this country's "Car Czar" berated the manager of said fund with an outburst of prose substantially resembling this:

Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with? We'll have the IRS audit your fund. Every one of your employees. Your investors. Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with.

Yeah, how DARE they try to actually get their customers what they are owed? Don't they know that messes with Pres. B. Cartman Obama's plans?

in the town square, two cases Insty pointed to. First, in California,Tomorrow I will be arguing the case of Griswold v. City of Carlsbad in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California. This is an astonishing case in which city officials forced the Griswold family to give up their constitutionally protected right to vote in exchange for a building permit. Hard as that might be to believe, it is actually not unique: it's actually quite common for local governments to abuse permits by forcing property owners to give up money or land or other rights.This is... 'disgusting' isn't the word, but it's close. Any politician and/or bureaucrat playing at this should be removed from office. And prosecuted, if at all possible.

Second, from Illinois(somehow not surprising), "Along a party line vote, the Quincy City Council denied a written request to speak by a taxpaying resident of the city.

Steve McQueen, one of the organizers of the Quincy Tea Party effort, requested to speak on the recently approved $31.2 million budget and water and sewer rate increases.

When it came time to vote to open the floor to allow the speaker, a mixed voice vote took place. A roll call vote ensued and the seven Democrats denied McQueen's opportunity to speak while six Republicans voted to allow him to speak.

Alderman Mike Rein (R-5th Ward) was absent.

Alderman Mike Farha (R-4th Ward) said he had never seen anyone denied the right to speak in his 10 years on the council and called the vote "outrageous.""Response from the mayor?Quincy Mayor John Spring says he has no regrets about a City Council vote which denied a taxpaying citizen to opportunity to speak before the city's governing body on Monday night.

Spring appeared on WGEM-FM (105.1) during NewsTalk Drive, hosted by Les Sachs on Tuesday afternoon. Sachs asked about Monday night's meeting and Spring said the events made him 'sad'.

"The main focus of the meeting was supposed to have been a very special night for those council members, mayor and other elected officials who were there to be sworn in to serve...," said Spring, who is the mayor. "Unfortunately, that got a little overshadowed as I noticed in the coverage. Today, there wasn't much said about that...so that's sad. That's a very sad thing in my mind that Quincy deserved better than that."To borrow from Tam, "Ooooh, who's a sad clown?""I didn't think that was appropriate...for that group from that standpoint to come and basically disrupt that ceremony," Spring said.

McQueen had about 40 supporters at City Hall, who did nothing to disrupt any ceremony, which Spring admitted in the interview.(bold mine)

Gee, I think the tea party and people speaking out kind of bother this little roach, don't they?

And last, the Justice Department, if it wants that name to be anything other than a joke, needs a serious housecleaning:It appears John Yoo cannot be disciplined or disbarred for writing those memos, even if the Office of Professional Responsibility says it has evidence he should be.

That’s because OPR’s five-year investigation—carefully timed for release only as Bush was leaving the White House and Obama was coming in—dragged on too long. As a result of that timing, OPR blew the deadline for referring possible misconduct allegations against Yoo.

John Yoo is admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania. But the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board, which would investigate any complaints against him, imposes a four-year limitation for complaints.

Yoo wrote the memos in 2002 and 2003. This is 2009. You do the math....

This is a huge issue for current DOJ officials and Attorney General Eric Holder. Because if Yoo—who wrote the memos and has been vilified as responsible for approving the interrogation program—can’t be disciplined under state bar rules, why then would OPR even refer the matter to state bar officials in the first place?

And what about Bybee? Now a federal appeals court judge, Bybee is admitted in DC and Nevada—those jurisdictions don’t have comparable limitations periods. But how strange would it be to only refer Bybee, when his involvement largely amounted making a few edits and signing Yoo’s legal work?

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

That's Oren*, and the shiny can on the end of the barrel is the prototype of the suppressor design he's worked out. The expression is due to asking the dog what the hell it's doing(no, it did not pee on my leg). It(the can, not the dog) weighs a touch over six ounces, and it works.

As in, with subsonic ammo, the shot itself was a mild 'tick', much quieter than the sound of the bullet striking the target and backstop fifteen yards away; downright impressive. Yes, I want one when he's able to start producing them.

So the day was spent trying this out, talking and helping him take care of some things. Time well spent, I'd say.

*Had a question in comments, thought I'd add this: he's a NFA-licensed gunsmith(link above and on the sidebar), and yes, he had the license before he even put pen to paper

has not apologized to the Marines he slandered and lied about. And probably never will, even though it keeps being proved what a damned liar he is. A government official has informed the Thomas More Law Center that the government will not seek to appeal the recent unanimous decision by the Navy Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) in favor of LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, USMC.

The decision makes permanent the ruling by the trial court judge, Colonel Steven A. Folsom, USMC, dismissing the charges against LtCol Chessani, without prejudice, due to Unlawful Command Influence. The government could have sought an appeal to the civilian Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces (CAAF), and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.

You'd think, if the bastard had any sense of honor at all, he'd say SOMETHING, but he won't. Wouldn't surprise me if he's still accusing them of horrors, just more quietly than before.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Alternate media, militia, distrustful of politicians, and other horrible things. Which makes me one of those domestic extremists(more commonly known asto the GFW politicians and bureaucrats) according to a 'maverick' division of DHS. Maverick, hmmm...

Get the feeling that 'maverick' might mean "You idiots! You weren't supposed to let the public know this is what we're putting out!"?

Since when is it smart to ignore a threatening country making airstrikes in your territory?Iranian aircraft attacked three villages inside Iraq over the weekend. The airstrikes — Iran’s first on Iraqi soil since the U.S. invasion — could complicate the Obama administration’s efforts to normalize relations with Tehran.As Insty says, you think maybe?

Second, just how friggin' smart is it to hold Israel responsible for Iran's nuclear weapons program?According to the Jerusalem Post: Thwarting Iran’s nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. [bold mine]Such smart effing people we've got running this stuff, what?

Monday, May 04, 2009

but it seems he's been corrupted by all that time around politicians.In the wake of all this, some LAPD officers are asking their superiors for clarified guidelines on when illegal-alien arrestees should be reported to ICE. Clearly, Mayor Villaraigosa and his sycophants in the LAPD want to restrict such notifications to only the most serious of offenders. In fact, in an e-mail sent out to some officers in the LAPD’s South Bureau last week, Commander Andrew Smith, the assistant commanding officer for the bureau, said the subject of ICE notification had come up in a recent senior staff meeting. “The direction given by [Chief William Bratton],” wrote Smith, “is that we call ICE only on the following cases: 1) Violent felony arrestees, and 2) Gang members arrested for felony charges.”

So if Bratton were to have his way, burglars, car thieves, drug dealers, forgers, drunk drivers, and all manner of other miscreant illegal aliens would go unreported to ICE unless they belonged to a gang. And an illegal-alien gang member, presumably even one with a felony record, would go unreported when arrested for a misdemeanor. I have yet to see any formal order codifying the guidelines set forth in the e-mail, and I’m at a loss to figure out how Bratton might issue such an order without running afoul of state and federal law.Well, considering all the time that illegal-loving mayor & co. spend saying they're going to ignore the law, what makes you think they care? is the question.

with target selection skills like this.But as the Somali pirates sped toward the vessel sailing near the Seychelles, they were horrified to see two boats and a helicopter set off from their target and launch their own counter-attack.

They had failed to spot, in the dazzling sun, that the ‘merchant ship’ they thought they were intercepting was, in fact, a French naval ship bristling with cannons, radar technology and armed commandos.

With all the crap you've stolen over the past while, there were no sunglasses? Hmmm?

when they say "We don't want to take your guns!", take a look at two things:First, how the Brady Gun Ban people wanted to define 'arsenal':

Section 204 -

Prohibits a person from possessing more than 20 firearms or more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition unless the person is a licensed dealer or has been issued an arsenal license. Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue such a license if specified conditions are met, including the payment of a $300 fee for a three-year license period. Subjects the holder of such a license to all requirements pertaining to licensed dealers. Sets penalties for violations.

Followed by, as the definition of a 'firearm',

SEC. 312. DEFINITION OF FIREARM EXPANDED TO INCLUDE COMPONENT PARTS.

Section 921(a)(3)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended bystriking "or receiver" and inserting ", receiver, barrel, stock, ammunitionmagazine, or any part of the action".(bold added)

So, if you had three actual guns, and three magazines each, and a few boxes of ammo; or just a couple of boxes of ammo and some spare parts- extractors, ejector, springs- you have an 'arsenal' and would require a license. Or if you have a couple of .22 rifles and two bricks of ammo. A license for which the requirements and cost could be jacked up constantly to cause people to give up. On top of that, just think of all the crap that has been used by bad agents at BATFE to screw over dealers being used on you("You don't have these magazines stored properly, that'll cost you your license! And you'll be lucky if you don't face charges!").

And if there's any question in your mind what the Brady Gun-Ban group actually wants,I'm convinced that we have to have federal legislation to build on. We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily — given the political realities — going to be very modest. Of course, it's true that politicians will then go home and say, "This is a great law. The problem is solved." And it's also true that such statements will tend to defuse the gun-control issue for a time. So then we'll have to strengthen that law, and then again to strengthen that law, and maybe again and again. Right now, though, we'd be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal — total control of handguns in the United States — is going to take time. My estimate is from seven to ten years. The problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns sold in this country. The second problem is to get them all registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition — except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors — totally illegal.

for those moving targets? A new way to pour out your moneyA way to shoot a whole round of skeet without reloading? We present !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, May 03, 2009

First, which explains a lot about the mess the country is in, this dickhead was the Dean of Yale Law School.Second, President B. Cartman Obama wants said dickhead to be the bigshot legal guy in the State Department.What would this look like in a practical sense? Well, California voters have overruled their courts, which had imposed same-sex marriage on the state. Koh would like to see such matters go up the chain through federal courts -- which, in turn, should look to the rest of the world. If Canada, the European Human Rights Commission and the United Nations all say gay marriage should be legal -- well, then, it should be legal in California too, regardless of what the state's voters and elected representatives might say.

He even believes judges should use this "logic" to strike down the death penalty, which is clearly permitted in the US Constitution.

The primacy of international legal "norms" applies even to treaties we reject. For example, Koh believes that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child -- a problematic document that we haven't ratified -- should dictate the age at which individual US states can execute criminals. Got that? On issues ranging from affirmative action to the interrogation of terrorists, what the rest of the world says, goes.

Including, apparently, the world of radical imams. A New York lawyer, Steven Stein, says that, in addressing the Yale Club of Greenwich in 2007, Koh claimed that "in an appropriate case, he didn't see any reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States."

Want to bet he's just hell on separation of Church and State when it applies to Christian or Jewish belief?

A spokeswoman for Koh said she couldn't confirm the incident, responding: "I had heard that some guy . . . had asked a question about sharia law, and that Dean Koh had said something about that while there are obvious differences among the many different legal systems, they also share some common legal concepts."Oh, of COURSE she couldn't confirm it; so she plays legal wording to get around it.

From the sound of it, he'd like to have Bill Ayers(terrorist dickhead/Friend of Obama) consulting, too; they'll probably get along well together. And you know he'd just love to have that treaty screwing the 2nd Amendment into a disposal passed; why, it'd bring us into line with all the other countries with disarmed peasants! And that oath he'd have to take, that part about 'supporting and defending the Constitution'? No problem, he'll just ignore it. What's your word worth when you have International Agreements to put together...

*************************National***************************** **************************Offend**************************************** *****************************A**********************************************************Feminist*******************************************************Week!****************************And, just because I like belly dancers,and hot chicks with guns(or without, for that matter)

Standard lefty activity nowadays: realize what an idiot you've made of yourself, so make copyright claim to try to hide the words.It is clear that Hilton is embarrassed by what he said, and he is using a transparently frivolous copyright claim to try to squelch free speech about his ridiculous statements.

I’m not standing for it.

If Hilton sends me a DMCA takedown notice, I’m going to fight it — and I may sue him. I have never seen a clearer example of fair use in my life.I have to add in this from Hendrix at Cold Fury:An “intellectual titan?” Well, next to a wholly rancid putz like Olbermann, sure. To anyone who can scrape up more than two functioning brain cells in a pinch, he looks like a mincing progressivist simpleton who will brook no disagreement whatsoever with the prevailing Left orthodoxy, and will not allow dissenting views to be expressed without a lot of shrill caterwauling and gratuitous cruelty in response– even when he asks for those views himself. He ought to be bitchslapped until he quacks like a duck — or at least until he learns some proper decorum when addressing people whose opinions he lacks the grey matter to comprehend, and the broad-minded forbearance to tolerate.

Not a peep, strangely, from any of these smarmy fatheads about their idol Obama’s stated position on the issue, which mirrors Prejean’s own. But that’s because they assume he’s lying about it, in order to further gull the rubes. And I’m sure they’re correct in that assumption. Which, for blindly worshipful twits like these, makes Obama — what? Courageous? Clever? Guileful? A real stand-up guy? What?

I once told a guy who belonged to a teachers union my thought: that a good teacher is a jewel to be cherished and paid as much as we can afford, and bad teachers need to be thrown the hell out before they do more damage. He stated, with indignant look, "I've never seen a bad teacher!" He was full of crap, and this lists some of the damage they can do:Meanwhile, said Kendra Wallace, principal of Daniel Webster Middle School on Los Angeles' Westside, an ineffective teacher can instruct 125 to 260 students a year -- up to 1,300 in the five years she says it often takes to remove a tenured employee.There should be protections so that, for instance, a teacher can't be screwed over for holding kids to account for their actions(idiot parent: "You can't flunk him just because you don't like what he did!" "Ma'am, he doesn't do his assignments and what he does turn in is wrong; he flunked." "You're a racist/bigot/(fill in the insult blank)!") But protecting teachers who shouldn't be there from being canned isn't doing the kids any favors, and hurts a lot of them.

Do you believe Obama's people would make threats like this? And act like this? Unfortunately, I do."The charge is completely untrue," said White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, "and there's obviously no evidence to suggest that this happened in any way."Umm, when someone makes statements like that, it doesn't exactly give confidence in their honesty, does it?

And last, but definitely not least, Speaker Pelosi(Socialist Crapweasel-CA) is trying to make it harder for law enforcement to go after corrupt politicians:House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is working to buffer lawmakers from federal investigators. This is a bad idea. Special legal protections for politicians encourage unethical conduct.

Irvin B. Nathan, general counsel of the House of Representatives, sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday about establishing a protocol on how to handle “hopefully rare searches and electronic surveillance involving members of Congress.” Mr. Nathan previously failed to negotiate such an agreement with the George W. Bush administration when Republicans controlled the House. His return to this effort isn’t surprising given the number of congressional Democrats facing accusations of ethical misconduct.Don't you just love that wording? “...hopefully rare searches and electronic surveillance". Translation: "We can make it harder for the cops to go after members of Congress, which will make it easier for them to take care of their johns- er, I mean constituents without being troubled by these nasty law enforcement people. I mean, who do they think they are, troubling Congressmen just for getting their beak a little wet?"Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, on Thursday invoked the separation of powers as justification for the move. Mrs. Pelosi, who has acknowledged being aware previously of Mrs. Harman's controversial dialogue, claims the stance is a matter of principle. "Whether it's invading an office or wiretapping a conversation, it's important for us to have the separation of powers and the respect for individual liberties, again, while not harboring information that would be useful under the speech [or] debate clause," she said.Translation: "Congress should be protected from investigation. The cops and FBI can go after YOU, no problem; you're just a peasant. But showing up with a warrant, or getting a wiretap on a politician? Why, we can't allow that!" And don't you just love her referring to a search with a warrant as 'invading an office'? Think she'd call it that if the FBI showed up at the home or office of a tea party organizer?

First, an actress who gives a crap about troops:Lumley has that rare thing in public life: a simple and uncluttered sense of principle which tells her that if a man is willing to die for a country, then surely he has the right to live there. No ifs, no buts, no 'five conditions that need to be met'.

Indeed, it is this very principle which still seems to elude Mr Brown, whose understanding of words like 'loyalty' might be judged from what he said recently about the Damian McBride email scandal.

'I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately.' Yes, he really did say that.

Second, the Brits are losing their tank-building company:They have fought alongside British soldiers for generations, playing heroic roles on historic battlefields such as the Somme, Cambrai and El Alamein. They have carried famous names such as Centurion, Churchill, Cromwell and Crusader.

But now, nearly a century after inventing the first armoured warhorse - to storm through German lines in the First World War - Britain is to stop building its own tanks.

In the week British troops formally ended their military operations in Iraq, BAe Systems, which makes the Army's Challenger 2 tanks, revealed it was closing its tank-making operation at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

It is also shutting its armour business at Telford in Shropshire and at other locations because it sees no prospect of new Government orders.Why?Defence Secretary John Hutton has declared 'a rebalancing of investment in technology, equipment and people to meet the challenge of irregular warfare'.

He said he planned to strengthen and enlarge Special Forces but gave no hint of even a medium-weight tank in the Army's future.One of the things I've read a number of times is how important armor, including tanks, can be in counter-insurgency work. One of the lessons somebody noted some time back was that in city combat tanks turned out to be very helpful; yes, they've got weaknesses, and they've got strengths that made a big difference. If the Brits lose the only domestic operation they've got that can build the things... not a good idea, guys.

on the situation in Iraq. Best to read it all, but these two just stand out.

First:Colonel Andrew Bacevich, a military historian who lost his son in Iraq, said the rise in casualties threatened Obama’s withdrawal plans. The US military, including General Jim Jones, Obama’s national security adviser, wanted troops to leave the country “in a condition in which they can plausibly claim to have achieved success”, he said. Isn't that nice. Isn't that just freakin' WONDERFUL?!? "...plausibly claim to have achieved success". They kicked the shit out of the bad guys, have built schools and hospitals and trained and a whole damn pile of other things, and it's reduced to Obama & Co. wanting to yank them out when they can 'plausibly claim success'. Translation: "I want to pull them all out as fast as I can to make my supporters happy, but I don't want to be blamed for what happens after; so do something so I can plausibly claim success so it'll take the heat off." Miserable two-faced bastards.

Second:The Iraqi security forces were not yet ready to assume control, he said, even if the US was worried about the cost of the war. “I think American forces will have to stay here much longer. It will be shameful if the Americans leave us sinking in blood, simply to escape their economic crisis.” Hey, the Obama administration, with Barney Frank and other pushing hard, want to chop the defense budget to pieces to pay off supporters and buy future votes; what's a bunch of dead Iraqis to them if they can keep their fat asses in office? The Evil Party betrayed the South Vietnamese and left them to drown in blood; what makes you special to them?

E-mail me

at elmtreeforge at att point net

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. - C.S. Lewis

Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave. - Capt. Mal

A Rifleman’s Prayer:Oh Lord, I would live my life in freedom, peace and happiness, enjoying the simple pleasures of hearth and home. I would die an old, old man in my own bed, preferably of sexual overexertion.

But if that is not to be, Lord, if monsters such as this should find their way to my little corner of the world on my watch, then help me to sweep those bastards from the ramparts, because doing that is good, and right, and just.

And if in this I should fall, let me be found atop a pile of brass, behind the wall I made of their corpses. Geek with a .45

"He's Black Council,", I said.

"Or maybe stupid," Ebenezar countered.

I thought about it. "Not sure which is scarier."

Ebenezar blinked at me, then snorted. "Stupid, Hoss. Every time. Only so many blackhearted villains in the world, and they only get uppity on occasion. Stupid's everywhere, every day." Ebenezar McCoy

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling

This deprecation of individual freedom was objectionable to me. I am convinced now, as I was then, that man is an end because he is a child of God. Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man. To deprive man of freedom is to relegate him to the status of a thing, rather than elevate him to the status of a person. Man must never be treated as means to the end of the state; but always as an end within himself." Dr. M.L. King Jr.